Vision Grills (Kamado)

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Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby Bockbock » Tue Apr 21, 2015 6:59 am

Anyone use a Vision Grill? I just sold my big pit on wheels. I am thinking about buying one of these Vision grills which is essentially a knock off of the BGE. It is a lot cheaper. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on them. I am having a hard time making a decision as I have always used an offset stick burner. Can you get the good smokey flavor with wood chips and lump charcoal? I like the fact that you can grill and smoke on them.
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby DATsBBQ » Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:58 am

Well, I think you get what you pay for when it comes to products made in China. For some things, it probably does not matter much. But for things that could affect your health (lead for example), I steer clear. Better safe than sorry. I think the BGEs are manufactured in Mexico and assembled in the USA. I know that Primo is made and assembled in the USA. 8)
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby Big K-Dawg » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:56 am

I purchased a Vision Kamado Grill on 2/2/16 and I have cooked on it maybe 10 times. The grill runs too hot, there is a leak around the ash pan/vent system. The vent pops in and out as it sees fit. I have burnt every slab of ribs I tried to cook on this grill. Even with the deflector stone, the temps stay around 300-400 degrees. I am not a amateur griller. Quite the contrary! I have been unable to cook low and slow on this contraption. I am totally disappointed in the purchase and will be returning it to Sam's Club tomorrow. For $650.00, I feel that I can do better. I will be looking for an off-set smoker and get back to my roots! :-(
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby JimK » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:19 pm

Big K-Dawg wrote:I purchased a Vision Kamado Grill on 2/2/16 and I have cooked on it maybe 10 times. The grill runs too hot, there is a leak around the ash pan/vent system. The vent pops in and out as it sees fit. I have burnt every slab of ribs I tried to cook on this grill. Even with the deflector stone, the temps stay around 300-400 degrees. I am not a amateur griller. Quite the contrary! I have been unable to cook low and slow on this contraption. I am totally disappointed in the purchase and will be returning it to Sam's Club tomorrow. For $650.00, I feel that I can do better. I will be looking for an off-set smoker and get back to my roots! :-(


K-Dawg,

Here is a review of the Vision Grills B Series Kamado. I believe the B-series and M-series use the same bottom vent system. This review is really very accurate and in depth but I believe if you are willing to read it and put in the time and materials you can get your Vision Grills Kamado to work very well ! There is no doubt Vision Grills needs to re-visit there vent system for the B and M series, as out of the box they will most likely not go "low and slow" because of leaks, unless you mod it.

http://www.nibblemethis.com/2014/05/rev ... sic-b.html

Anyway, good luck! If you decide to do the mod on the lower vent, please post back here with the results so others my learn from your trials and tribulations. :O)

Regards,

JimK
Last edited by JimK on Thu Mar 03, 2016 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby DATsBBQ » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:01 pm

Primo large round Kamado, made in America. I have had no issues. I cook low and slow all the time on it. For grilling, I use a weber kettle -just cause that is how I was raised. 8)
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby jim D » Tue Apr 05, 2016 1:33 pm

It doesn't matter if the thing is made in China, or the US, or Germany, or where ever. It is a matter of getting the design and final production quality needed to end up with a product that works.

Many of these ceramic units sell for numbers in the ..., let's call it $850+ range. And they sell really well. The ones that sell for much less are subject to having sacrificed something. I agree that some have not, and absolutely some can be modified to work well.

The Big Green egg and a couple of others are notoriously expensive. The emerging high quality units such as Kamado Joe and Primo are great cookers can be bought for several hundred dollars less, have now been in business a good many years, and have built an excellent reputation for both quality and customer service after the sale.
Charcoal: Kamado Joe Classic (new on 12/25/2015), & Weber original kettle
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby dub' » Tue Apr 05, 2016 1:55 pm

Looks like a decent enough grill from a quick eyeball of the website. With a ceramic,the mainmost thing to worry about is the metal bits and that they're corrosion resistant. Ashes are alkaline as heck and are why metal cookers fail 90+% of the time.BGE's in particular have had problems with this.(there! i said it) If I had to go and replace my current unit (a Johnson Kamado from a lucky time period) I'd roll my pennies until I could afford a Komodo or I'd get a Grill Dome due to the SS fittings all around. Just my half a nickle,rounded down for inflation of course.
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby egghead » Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:31 pm

Got three BGEs. One is 11 years old and the other two are 10 years old. Haven't had to replace any metal parts. Have been to several eggfests and participated in egghead forum for 11 years as well as BGE Facebook for the last year. Don't know anyone that has had to replace metal parts. I bet there are a few that have had to, but I don't know any.

Have replaced gasket, in fact tried several different materials before being pleased with the high temp nomex.
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby Pmulry » Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:08 am

Thought I'd chime in here. We bought a Vision Pro-S from Home Depot earlier this summer. Did a lot of research first and it appeared to be a very strong value vs Primo, BGE, and Kamado Joe, in that it included a lot of the accessories that were either extra or for which we would have paid more for other models.

Conclusion: We have been smoking on it nearly every weekend for the past 2 months & it was a solid value proposition. I would buy it again. We've been very pleased with the results, but there is a learning curve, like on any new smoker.

Pros:
Works great, requires very little babysitting.
It has a dual level rack, so there is plenty of capacity.
The racks both pivot near the front to make adding fuel easy on a long smoke
Felt seals on top and bottom seem to work well.
Works great, just like every other ceramic Kamado-style cooker
The built-in thermostat is reasonably accurate as measured against an iGrill digital ambient temp sensor.

Cons:
The lava stone (which is not included in initial purchase) works great to prevent flares but interferes with ability to add fuel if needed.
I'd prefer a sliding-door style air control on the bottom & a more graduated scale on the exhaust. It seems this smoke relies more on the exhaust to regulate temp than the intake, which makes me wonder if the ash tray lower mechanism is permitting too much "unregulated" air to slip in at the bottom.

I've found that temp regulation is easier with a water pan on the lower level of the rack and no lava stone, but I will probably modify the lava stone holder to hold a water tray in such a way as to still be able to add fuel but also use both racks for meats.

When all is said and done, I'd do it again.
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Re: Vision Grills (Kamado)

Postby stan0410 » Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:53 pm

DATsBBQ wrote:Well, I think you get what you pay for when it comes to products made in China. For some things, it probably does not matter much. But for things that could affect your health (lead for example), I steer clear. Better safe than sorry. I think the BGEs are manufactured in Mexico and assembled in the USA. I know that Primo is made and assembled in the USA. 8)

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